DO YOU WANT TO TELL STORIES WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE IN A WAY THAT IS SAFE, ETHICAL, AND ACTUALLY TRANSFORMATIVE?

I work with production companies, broadcasters, brands, agencies, NGOs and creative teams who are working with lived experience, real people and emotionally complex material — and want to do it properly.

My role is to support the how, not just the what.

How stories are held.
How people are treated in the process.
How integrity is built into every stage of storytelling.

As the industry increasingly moves towards authenticity, real stories and lived experience-led storytelling, more productions are entering emotionally sensitive territory without the structures, systems or ethical frameworks needed to hold this work responsibly.

The result is that storytelling can quickly become extractive, emotionally unsafe or misaligned — not because of bad intentions, but because the industry has not yet evolved the necessary ways of working around lived experience and relational storytelling.

This is the work I help support.

I help productions, agencies and creative teams build the systems, practices, relationships and storytelling processes needed to ensure work with lived experience is held safely, collaboratively and with integrity from development through to delivery.

Because how stories are made is just as important as what is made.

When these structures are in place, something powerful happens.

The process becomes safer and more empowering for the people sharing their stories.
Creative teams feel more grounded and supported in navigating emotionally complex material.
The work itself becomes more truthful, emotionally resonant and deeply impactful for audiences.

People feel the difference when stories are made with integrity.

MY POSITION

I believe stories rooted in lived experience should be created with the people who have actually lived them, co-creating process and centring lived experience wisdom, with care throughout.

Not only does this create deeper, more truthful and emotionally resonant work, it creates storytelling that feels genuinely connected, nuanced and impactful because it is shaped with the people whose stories are being told, not simply extracted from them.

As more productions, campaigns and organisations move towards authenticity, real stories and lived experience-led storytelling, we urgently need the structures, frameworks and ways of working that ensure these stories are being held safely, ethically and responsibly.

Because if we are asking people to share their lives, trauma, identities and lived experiences in service of storytelling, then we have a responsibility to make sure those stories are being held with dignity, respect, integrity and care — and that the people sharing them feel safe, empowered and genuinely collaborated with throughout the process.

Too often stories are commissioned or developed without enough thought around how they are actually going to be made, how contributors will be supported, or whether the processes are truly in integrity with the people involved.

For me, how stories are made is just as important as what is made.

When lived experience is held properly, something powerful happens.

The process itself can become meaningful, empowering and transformative for the people involved. Creative teams become more grounded and responsible in the way they navigate emotionally complex material. And audiences feel the difference — because people can feel when stories have been made with truth, care, integrity and genuine collaboration.

WHAT MAKES MY APPROACH DIFFERENT

In 2013, I became homeless with my family and, despite never making a film before, I picked up a camera, filmed in my hostel and turned it into BIFA & Grierson nominated feature documentary HALF WAY.

Through this process, I experienced first-hand the transformative power of storytelling — not only in my own life, but for others too.

I turned my lived experience into a deep understanding of the responsibility that comes with telling real stories, the boundaries needed to keep people safe, and the impact storytelling can have when lived experience is held with dignity, care and integrity.

Over the past decade, I have developed and deepened my own ways of working through filmmaking, working closely with contributors and communities, and training in somatic and trauma-informed practices.

I didn’t learn this in books.
I lived it.

My films HALF WAY, HOLLOWAY and LOLLIPOP have all centred lived experience-led and trauma-informed ways of working. They have screened internationally and in Parliament, been recognised by BAFTA, BIFA and Grierson, and contributed to wider conversations around homelessness, trauma, justice, social systems and lived experience.

HALF WAY was used as official evidence within a government homelessness inquiry, and all three films have connected deeply not only with lived experience communities, but also with social workers, judges, criminal justice professionals, charities, councils and organisations working within these systems.

The work continues to create conversation, reflection and real-life impact beyond the screen — from screenings with councillors championing change, to social worker reflection days and trauma-informed discussions within justice systems and prisons.

The work has resonated deeply because the process itself was built with care, collaboration, responsibility and genuine lived experience involvement.

This is not just about ethics.
It creates better storytelling.

WHAT I BRING

• Lived experience of the stories being told

• BAFTA Breakthrough filmmaking practice

• Over a decade of working with real stories and contributors

• Trauma-informed and somatic training

• A deep understanding of safety, boundaries and care in storytelling

• Experience creating films with cultural, social and political impact

• The ability to recognise where processes become extractive, unsafe or misaligned

• Practical frameworks for contributor relationships, safeguarding and ethical decision-making

• Experience building lived experience-led and co-creative storytelling processes

• A way of working that strengthens both the integrity of the process and the emotional impact of the final work

HOW I SUPPORT PRODUCTIONS & CREATIVE TEAMS

I work across film, television, documentary, commercial and branded storytelling.

My consultancy is tailored to each production, campaign or organisation depending on the story, contributors, creative ambitions and level of support needed.

This can include:

• Script and development support

• Shaping trauma-informed and ethical storytelling processes

• Working with lived experience contributors and communities

• Building systems and structures that ensure stories are held safely and responsibly

• Supporting teams with care, boundaries and ethical decision-making

• Supporting filmmakers to navigate contributor relationships with self-responsibility, clarity and care

• Guidance throughout development and production

• Holding space for complexity within emotionally sensitive projects

• Contributor care and safeguarding processes

• Development of co-creative and lived experience-led approaches

• Workshops and facilitation for creative teams and organisations

• Supporting productions to identify where processes may become extractive, unsafe or misaligned

• Helping creative teams create work that is both ethically grounded and emotionally resonant

Every collaboration is bespoke and shaped around the specific needs of the project and people involved.

WHY THIS WORK MATTERS

If lived experience is not held properly, storytelling can become extractive, unsafe and cause harm — even with good intentions.

Yet audiences consistently connect most deeply to work that has been created with integrity, nuance and genuine collaboration — because people can feel the difference.

When lived experience is held with care, something else happens.

People feel safe enough to be real.
Stories deepen.
The work becomes more truthful.
Audiences feel it.

And the impact is not just creative — it is cultural.

MY APPROACH

What I offer comes directly from what I have lived and experienced.

I transformed my own story through filmmaking and, over the years, through working closely with others, I have deepened my understanding of what it really means to hold people and their stories with care and responsibility.

Alongside this, I have trained in trauma-informed and somatic practices, which have grounded and expanded the way I work.

From all of this, I have developed an approach to storytelling that is safe, ethical, collaborative, deeply felt and transformative.

For me, this is not an optional extra.
It is the only responsible way stories rooted in lived experience should be told.

WAYS OF WORKING TOGETHER:

Every project is different, and the level of support needed will vary depending on the story, the people involved and the stage of the process.

I work in a few key ways:

Project-Based Consultancy

Supporting a film, campaign or production from development through to delivery — helping shape processes that are ethical, safe and grounded in integrity.

Embedded Support

Working closely with a team over time — supporting decision-making, contributor relationships and the overall holding of the work.

Creative & Ethical Guidance

Supporting directors, producers, agencies and creatives to navigate the complexity of working with lived experience in a way that protects both people and story.

Workshops & Team Sessions

Facilitating spaces for teams and organisations to deepen their understanding of trauma-informed, lived experience-led storytelling and ethical production practice.

Every collaboration is tailored.